The Government is being accused of a cover-up after it was claimed that secret documents show it was wrong to rule that Prince Charles's register office marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles was legal.
Confidential Whitehall papers seen by The Mail on Sunday appear to support claims by constitutional experts that Ministers should have told the couple the law banned them from taking part in a civil wedding.
And Justice Minister Jack Straw came under fire for refusing to reveal further details of secret legal advice given to Tony Blair's Government before its controversial decision to approve the wedding.
The latest development in the long-running dispute over the legality of Charles and Camilla's register office wedding comes in the run-up to the Prince's 60th birthday on Friday.
